A. Marie Silver

A. Marie Silver

Location and Scenery

Every writer is burdened, to some extent with picking a setting for his or her novel.  In my case, I like to pick a setting that carries a certain amount of inspiration with it.  I first started writing this novel in Oxnard, California back in 2010.  Of course, because I lived in California at the time I picked a California town for the setting, Solvang to be exact.  It’s a small German town located north of  Oxnard.  It’s got a lot of great scenery and very touristy in nature. 

My mother was very disappointed to learn I was using Solvang as a setting.  She doesn’t have anything against the city and actually enjoyed her visit there very much but her concern was that most books and movies are set in states such as California.  She insisted I give a lesser known area a chance.  In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I may be in my mid-30s but I’m still very much afraid of my mother.  So I changed the setting from Solvang to Olmsted Falls, Ohio – the city my mother lives in.  Specifically, the Grand Pacific Junction, a historic district located off of the intersection of Bagley and Columbia Road, is the location of the psychic shop my main characters work at.

I realize it’s a little risky to discuss the setting of my unpublished book now because my future publisher may tell me to change the setting to a different location for whatever reason they deem necessary, however since this is the location I’m currently using, I’ll take that risk and hope if it becomes and issue I can sell the publisher on this location.

Per the official website of the Grand Pacific Junction, this land was bought in the late 1880’s by Aaron Olmsted.  It consisted of a few shops, a jail and a hotel.  In the 1970’s, all of the businesses had fallen into disuse.  In the late 1980’s, Clint Williams, a resident of Olmsted Falls and realtor purchased the land with the intent of restoring it.  That brings us to today, where this lovely historic area caters great shopping and tasty treats.

Now let’s get to the really fun part.  Pictures!  Yes that’s right!  I have pictures of this really scenic area.

These are just a few of the pictures I took during my many trips through the Grand Pacific Junction.  It’s a really fun place to see and I recommend it to any one passing through the West side of Cleveland.  If you’d like to see more photos of this area as well my collection of many other photos I’ve taken as inspiration for my novel please stop by my Facebook Fan page

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A. Marie Smith

Your short bio telling the story of why you are a writer and the things that you think are important.